Sara Cambensy

MARQUETTE — Michigan newspapers are getting some good news.

Last week, the Michigan Senate unanimously passed SB 258 and SB 259, called the Newspaper Modernization Bills, which allows for a variety of ways of publishing public notices.

Lisa McGraw, public affairs manager for the Michigan Press Association, hosted a roundtable discussion via Zoom on Wednesday about the legislation, which was attended by state Rep. Sara Cambensy, D-Marquette, and members of the state news media.

“It will require our members to put their notices, their printing also, on their websites ahead of a paywall and put them on a statewide website,” McGraw said.

McGraw said it was time to come up with a compromise concerning the public notice issue.

The MPA has long supported keeping public notices in print. According to its website at michiganpress.org, they are valuable to citizens because they provide a permanent record of government actions, can be archived and are a part of newspapers, which provide an “independent source that serves as a watchdog of governmental activities.”

Brad Thompson, CEO for Detroit Legal News Publishing, said the bills are the “best of both worlds.”

“We’ve maintained the print notice for archivability and permanence of records, and at the same time, require the newspaper to put the notices on their own website where the public looks for information,” Thompson said.

A statewide website, mipublicnotices.com, is administered through the MPA for newspapers to upload their notices.

“It’s been operational for a while already,” Thompson said. “We’ve got tens of thousands of notices on it. It is free for the public or anybody to use, and you can put in whatever search parameters you want, kind of like a Google thing, and anytime there’s a hit, you get a text or email saying, ‘There’s a notice that meets your interest. Here it is. Take a look at it.’

“So, we look at this as kind of a ‘belt and suspenders’ solution that won’t cost the public anything. It will add some responsibilities to the newspapers, but it’s part of our being the watchdog for the public over government and other things. It’s part of our responsibility to do this.”

Cambensy expressed her support of local media, particularly in the Upper Peninsula.

“How do we get those local newspapers to stay alive?” Cambensy asked. “And in the U.P., they’re even more important because a lot of my population is aging and they don’t necessarily get on the computer. I’m glad to see that you guys worked something out where it protects the papers but also can put the information elsewhere.”

The bills are expected to be brought up in the Michigan House of Representatives’ Local Government and Municipal Finance Committee in December, McGraw said.

Christie Mastric can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.